Latest from Greg Bluestein

Half of all residents in 11 Southern states maintain that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation, according to a Winthrop University poll on regional attitudes that was released this morning. The Christian nation belief was particularly strong, as one might expect, among white evangelicals polled. Seventy-six percent...

A recount was ordered Monday in the repeat election for a Georgia House seat after a tally showed the incumbent losing by two votes. State Rep. Dan Gasaway’s attorney, Jake Evans, said the Homer Republican sought the recount in his race against GOP challenger Chris Erwin after exploring his legal options. “If any election...

Like any subset of society, the world of technology has its own culture, its own precepts of what separates good behavior from bad. Some people find certain aspects of that culture baffling – specifically, the topic of cyber security. And many of those people can be found in and around the state Capitol. Over the weekend, our AJC colleague...

Posted: a day ago
| By Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Weeks after Georgia Republicans suffered a wave of defeats across metro Atlanta, the party’s leaders are promising to focus on pocketbook issues rather than fights over social divides that energize the GOP’s rural base. At last week’s biennial training session for legislators in Athens and in the hallways under the Gold...

If you thought the gubernatorial race brought a deluge of outside money and attention to Georgia, just wait until 2020. Not only will Georgia be a likely battleground state with President Donald Trump on the ballot, but Democrats are also preparing to challenge Republican David Perdue as he competes for a second term in the...

A Republican attorney filed an ethics complaint Friday claiming a prominent Georgia tea party leader failed to register as a lobbyist and disclose most of her political advocacy work. The complaint targets Debbie Dooley, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots who has attracted national attention for her advocacy for alternative...

Late this summer, federal prosecutors in New York promulgated a 22-page list of Michael Cohen’s sins against the U.S. legal code. The charges against President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer included this paragraph: On Wednesday, in a non-prosecution agreement, the feds revealed Corporation-1 to be National Enquirer...

Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a crowd of dozens of Gainesville’s elite on a chilly fall afternoon and told the crowd he hadn’t expected to see them again so soon. “I keep thinking it’s my last address here as governor,” he told the audience at an event announcing another multimillion-dollar investment in his...

Cornelia – Jon Ossoff’s bid for Georgia’s 6th District brought him to all corners of Atlanta suburbs, but late Thursday he arrived at a new setting: A crowded library meeting hall in deeply-conservative Habersham County. The investigative journalist raised $30 million in last year’s special election for the U...

When General Electric announced two years ago it picked Atlanta as the home of its new digital division, the corporate giant’s top tech executive was unequivocal: Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto of a “religious liberty” measure paved the way for the move. Now in his final month as governor, Deal on Wednesday celebrated another...

Norfolk Southern made official Wednesday what was long expected — that the company’s headquarters is moving from Virginia to Atlanta. The formal announcement that Georgia had coaxed the railroad giant out of Norfolk to a future glitzy office complex in Midtown is a swan song of sorts for Gov. Nathan Deal, who has made economic...

Since losing the race for governor Stacey Abrams has filed a lawsuit challenging the electoral system, waded into national voting rights debates and dropped hints that she’s preparing for another bid for office. Now she’s made another move that telegraphs “I’m running for something.” Her group, Fair...

The alliance between the Gold Dome and Atlanta City Hall that helped forge a publicly-financed plan to build a mini-city atop downtown’s long-neglected Gulch also laid the tracks to snag a Fortune 500 company. Gov. Nathan Deal and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are set to formally announce on Wednesday the decision by railroad...

Gov.-elect Brian Kemp struck a different tone Tuesday in his first major speech since his narrow victory, outlining an agenda focusing on boosting rural Georgia and small businesses that avoided talk of divisive social legislation. The Republican aimed to distance himself from the attacks he unleashed during the campaign, urging the crowd...

UPDATED: Norfolk Southern confirmed Wednesday its plans to relocate from Virginia to Atlanta at a press conference at the State Capitol. The company’s move will lead to 850 new and relocated jobs to the city over the next several years, and retain some 2,000 existing corporate jobs in Midtown. Norfolk Southern Chairman and...

The group appointed by Brian Kemp to recommend a new voting system will meet Wednesday for the first time since the election. And a series of recommendations from a panelist obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sets some goal posts for what they could address. The report from Wenke Lee, a Georgia Tech professor who serves as the panel&rsquo...

Athens - If Gov.-elect Brian Kemp wants to distance himself from the incendiary political attacks he unleashed during his campaign, his first major speech since his victory offers him a chance to do so. The Republican is set to address lawmakers Tuesday at the legislative biennial in Athens, and he’s likely to strike a vastly...

As Donald Trump goes back to the drawing board in his search for a new top aide, Georgia operative Nick Ayers is preparing to head home – and launch his next venture. Ayers had been the president’s top choice for chief of staff -- the New York Times reported a press release announcing his hire was even primed to go --...

Georgia operative Nick Ayers, a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence, is headed back to Atlanta soon after he declined Sunday to take the job as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. Ayers, 36, was long rumored to be Trump’s top choice to replace outgoing chief of staff John Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who the...

A Republican incumbent appears to have lost a rare repeat election for a Georgia House seat by just two votes, but he has yet to concede the race and is considering his legal options. After about a dozen outstanding provisional and absentee ballots were tallied, Chris Erwin’s lead over state Rep. Dan Gasaway narrowed from three...

Latest from Greg Bluestein

Half of all residents in 11 Southern states maintain that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation, according to a Winthrop University poll on regional attitudes that was released this morning. The Christian nation belief was particularly strong, as one might expect, among white evangelicals polled. Seventy-six percent...

A recount was ordered Monday in the repeat election for a Georgia House seat after a tally showed the incumbent losing by two votes. State Rep. Dan Gasaway’s attorney, Jake Evans, said the Homer Republican sought the recount in his race against GOP challenger Chris Erwin after exploring his legal options. “If any election...

Like any subset of society, the world of technology has its own culture, its own precepts of what separates good behavior from bad. Some people find certain aspects of that culture baffling – specifically, the topic of cyber security. And many of those people can be found in and around the state Capitol. Over the weekend, our AJC colleague...

Posted: a day ago
| By Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Weeks after Georgia Republicans suffered a wave of defeats across metro Atlanta, the party’s leaders are promising to focus on pocketbook issues rather than fights over social divides that energize the GOP’s rural base. At last week’s biennial training session for legislators in Athens and in the hallways under the Gold...

If you thought the gubernatorial race brought a deluge of outside money and attention to Georgia, just wait until 2020. Not only will Georgia be a likely battleground state with President Donald Trump on the ballot, but Democrats are also preparing to challenge Republican David Perdue as he competes for a second term in the...

A Republican attorney filed an ethics complaint Friday claiming a prominent Georgia tea party leader failed to register as a lobbyist and disclose most of her political advocacy work. The complaint targets Debbie Dooley, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots who has attracted national attention for her advocacy for alternative...

Late this summer, federal prosecutors in New York promulgated a 22-page list of Michael Cohen’s sins against the U.S. legal code. The charges against President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer included this paragraph: On Wednesday, in a non-prosecution agreement, the feds revealed Corporation-1 to be National Enquirer...

Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a crowd of dozens of Gainesville’s elite on a chilly fall afternoon and told the crowd he hadn’t expected to see them again so soon. “I keep thinking it’s my last address here as governor,” he told the audience at an event announcing another multimillion-dollar investment in his...

Cornelia – Jon Ossoff’s bid for Georgia’s 6th District brought him to all corners of Atlanta suburbs, but late Thursday he arrived at a new setting: A crowded library meeting hall in deeply-conservative Habersham County. The investigative journalist raised $30 million in last year’s special election for the U...

When General Electric announced two years ago it picked Atlanta as the home of its new digital division, the corporate giant’s top tech executive was unequivocal: Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto of a “religious liberty” measure paved the way for the move. Now in his final month as governor, Deal on Wednesday celebrated another...

Norfolk Southern made official Wednesday what was long expected — that the company’s headquarters is moving from Virginia to Atlanta. The formal announcement that Georgia had coaxed the railroad giant out of Norfolk to a future glitzy office complex in Midtown is a swan song of sorts for Gov. Nathan Deal, who has made economic...

Since losing the race for governor Stacey Abrams has filed a lawsuit challenging the electoral system, waded into national voting rights debates and dropped hints that she’s preparing for another bid for office. Now she’s made another move that telegraphs “I’m running for something.” Her group, Fair...

The alliance between the Gold Dome and Atlanta City Hall that helped forge a publicly-financed plan to build a mini-city atop downtown’s long-neglected Gulch also laid the tracks to snag a Fortune 500 company. Gov. Nathan Deal and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are set to formally announce on Wednesday the decision by railroad...

Gov.-elect Brian Kemp struck a different tone Tuesday in his first major speech since his narrow victory, outlining an agenda focusing on boosting rural Georgia and small businesses that avoided talk of divisive social legislation. The Republican aimed to distance himself from the attacks he unleashed during the campaign, urging the crowd...

UPDATED: Norfolk Southern confirmed Wednesday its plans to relocate from Virginia to Atlanta at a press conference at the State Capitol. The company’s move will lead to 850 new and relocated jobs to the city over the next several years, and retain some 2,000 existing corporate jobs in Midtown. Norfolk Southern Chairman and...

The group appointed by Brian Kemp to recommend a new voting system will meet Wednesday for the first time since the election. And a series of recommendations from a panelist obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sets some goal posts for what they could address. The report from Wenke Lee, a Georgia Tech professor who serves as the panel&rsquo...

Athens - If Gov.-elect Brian Kemp wants to distance himself from the incendiary political attacks he unleashed during his campaign, his first major speech since his victory offers him a chance to do so. The Republican is set to address lawmakers Tuesday at the legislative biennial in Athens, and he’s likely to strike a vastly...

As Donald Trump goes back to the drawing board in his search for a new top aide, Georgia operative Nick Ayers is preparing to head home – and launch his next venture. Ayers had been the president’s top choice for chief of staff -- the New York Times reported a press release announcing his hire was even primed to go --...

Georgia operative Nick Ayers, a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence, is headed back to Atlanta soon after he declined Sunday to take the job as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. Ayers, 36, was long rumored to be Trump’s top choice to replace outgoing chief of staff John Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who the...

A Republican incumbent appears to have lost a rare repeat election for a Georgia House seat by just two votes, but he has yet to concede the race and is considering his legal options. After about a dozen outstanding provisional and absentee ballots were tallied, Chris Erwin’s lead over state Rep. Dan Gasaway narrowed from three...

Latest from Greg Bluestein

Half of all residents in 11 Southern states maintain that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation, according to a Winthrop University poll on regional attitudes that was released this morning. The Christian nation belief was particularly strong, as one might expect, among white evangelicals polled. Seventy-six percent...

A recount was ordered Monday in the repeat election for a Georgia House seat after a tally showed the incumbent losing by two votes. State Rep. Dan Gasaway’s attorney, Jake Evans, said the Homer Republican sought the recount in his race against GOP challenger Chris Erwin after exploring his legal options. “If any election...

Like any subset of society, the world of technology has its own culture, its own precepts of what separates good behavior from bad. Some people find certain aspects of that culture baffling – specifically, the topic of cyber security. And many of those people can be found in and around the state Capitol. Over the weekend, our AJC colleague...

Posted: a day ago
| By Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Weeks after Georgia Republicans suffered a wave of defeats across metro Atlanta, the party’s leaders are promising to focus on pocketbook issues rather than fights over social divides that energize the GOP’s rural base. At last week’s biennial training session for legislators in Athens and in the hallways under the Gold...

If you thought the gubernatorial race brought a deluge of outside money and attention to Georgia, just wait until 2020. Not only will Georgia be a likely battleground state with President Donald Trump on the ballot, but Democrats are also preparing to challenge Republican David Perdue as he competes for a second term in the...

A Republican attorney filed an ethics complaint Friday claiming a prominent Georgia tea party leader failed to register as a lobbyist and disclose most of her political advocacy work. The complaint targets Debbie Dooley, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots who has attracted national attention for her advocacy for alternative...

Late this summer, federal prosecutors in New York promulgated a 22-page list of Michael Cohen’s sins against the U.S. legal code. The charges against President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer included this paragraph: On Wednesday, in a non-prosecution agreement, the feds revealed Corporation-1 to be National Enquirer...

Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a crowd of dozens of Gainesville’s elite on a chilly fall afternoon and told the crowd he hadn’t expected to see them again so soon. “I keep thinking it’s my last address here as governor,” he told the audience at an event announcing another multimillion-dollar investment in his...

Cornelia – Jon Ossoff’s bid for Georgia’s 6th District brought him to all corners of Atlanta suburbs, but late Thursday he arrived at a new setting: A crowded library meeting hall in deeply-conservative Habersham County. The investigative journalist raised $30 million in last year’s special election for the U...

When General Electric announced two years ago it picked Atlanta as the home of its new digital division, the corporate giant’s top tech executive was unequivocal: Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto of a “religious liberty” measure paved the way for the move. Now in his final month as governor, Deal on Wednesday celebrated another...

Norfolk Southern made official Wednesday what was long expected — that the company’s headquarters is moving from Virginia to Atlanta. The formal announcement that Georgia had coaxed the railroad giant out of Norfolk to a future glitzy office complex in Midtown is a swan song of sorts for Gov. Nathan Deal, who has made economic...

Since losing the race for governor Stacey Abrams has filed a lawsuit challenging the electoral system, waded into national voting rights debates and dropped hints that she’s preparing for another bid for office. Now she’s made another move that telegraphs “I’m running for something.” Her group, Fair...

The alliance between the Gold Dome and Atlanta City Hall that helped forge a publicly-financed plan to build a mini-city atop downtown’s long-neglected Gulch also laid the tracks to snag a Fortune 500 company. Gov. Nathan Deal and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are set to formally announce on Wednesday the decision by railroad...

Gov.-elect Brian Kemp struck a different tone Tuesday in his first major speech since his narrow victory, outlining an agenda focusing on boosting rural Georgia and small businesses that avoided talk of divisive social legislation. The Republican aimed to distance himself from the attacks he unleashed during the campaign, urging the crowd...

UPDATED: Norfolk Southern confirmed Wednesday its plans to relocate from Virginia to Atlanta at a press conference at the State Capitol. The company’s move will lead to 850 new and relocated jobs to the city over the next several years, and retain some 2,000 existing corporate jobs in Midtown. Norfolk Southern Chairman and...

The group appointed by Brian Kemp to recommend a new voting system will meet Wednesday for the first time since the election. And a series of recommendations from a panelist obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sets some goal posts for what they could address. The report from Wenke Lee, a Georgia Tech professor who serves as the panel&rsquo...

Athens - If Gov.-elect Brian Kemp wants to distance himself from the incendiary political attacks he unleashed during his campaign, his first major speech since his victory offers him a chance to do so. The Republican is set to address lawmakers Tuesday at the legislative biennial in Athens, and he’s likely to strike a vastly...

As Donald Trump goes back to the drawing board in his search for a new top aide, Georgia operative Nick Ayers is preparing to head home – and launch his next venture. Ayers had been the president’s top choice for chief of staff -- the New York Times reported a press release announcing his hire was even primed to go --...

Georgia operative Nick Ayers, a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence, is headed back to Atlanta soon after he declined Sunday to take the job as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. Ayers, 36, was long rumored to be Trump’s top choice to replace outgoing chief of staff John Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who the...

A Republican incumbent appears to have lost a rare repeat election for a Georgia House seat by just two votes, but he has yet to concede the race and is considering his legal options. After about a dozen outstanding provisional and absentee ballots were tallied, Chris Erwin’s lead over state Rep. Dan Gasaway narrowed from three...